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Northern Foods Ltd was a British food manufacturer headquartered in Leeds, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company was scheduled to merge with Greencore Group in 2011 to form Essenta Foods, the group being headquartered in Dublin, and listed on the FTSE.〔(Greencore, Northern Foods to merge ) Irish Times, 17 November 2010〕〔(Greencore and Northern Foods to merge ) RTÉ, 17 November 2010〕 On 21 January 2011 Ranjit Singh Boparan announced a bid to buy Northern Foods,〔(Boparan wins Northern Foods with £341m bid ) FT.com〕 which succeeded in gaining sufficient shareholder support to proceed, resulting in the appointment of Boparan as the company's chairman in April 2011.〔(Boparan becomes Northern Foods Chairman )〕 ==History== The business was founded by Alec Horsley in 1937 as a family-run dairy business based in Holme on Spalding Moor. In 1942 the business was registered as Northern Dairies and became a public company in 1956.〔 In 1958, Alec's son Nicholas Horsley joined the then Northern Dairies as a trainee manager, becoming a director in 1963. His first great business success was to acquire, very cheaply, a stake in a small ice-cream company called Mr Whippy, which he sold on to Charles (now Lord) Forte for a very high price two years later. It was only when his father retired, in 1969, that Nick came into his own as chairman. Three years later, under Nick's chairmanship, Northern Dairies changed its name to Northern Foods, and, within a few years, Nick had successfully diversified the business, widening Northern Foods' portfolio into Marks & Spencer cakes (through Park Cakes), Smith's Flour Milling, brewing (with the purchase of Hull Brewery), Fox's Biscuits, Pork Farms and many other smaller firms. It was during this period that the company pioneered the market in chilled, prepared meals and sandwiches in supermarkets. Acquisitions continued in the 1980s, including that of Dorset Chilled Foods in 1981, Bowyers and Elkes Biscuits in 1985, Batchelors in 1986 and Evesham Foods in 1988.〔 In 1987 the company built the most advanced food factory in Europe, the Fenlands Food Factory in Grantham,〔 and dedicated it entirely to Marks & Spencer. Nicholas Horsley took early retirement due to a rare genetic wasting disease, and in the late 80s handed over the reins to his brother-in-law Christopher Haskins.〔(Obituary: Nicholas Horsley ) The Guardian, 23 January 2004〕 In the 1990s Northern Foods acquired: Palethorpes in 1990; Park Cake Bakeries, Trafford Park Bakery, Kara Foods, Express Dairies and Eden Vale in 1991; Mathew Walker in 1992; Vanderheul in 1993; Green Isle Foods in 1995; Cavaghan & Grey and George Payne & Co. in 1998; and Pyewipe in 1999.〔 In 2000 it acquired a 40% stake in Solway Foods (later increased to 100%) and R&K Wise and in 2002 it bought Lacemont and Fox's Confectionery.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Northern Foods」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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